Hydrothermal+Vents



=** Intro **= Hydrothermal vents are produced hot springs caused by underwater volcanoes at spreading ridges and convergent plate boundaries. The interaction between the seawater and the hot magma causes chemical processes. The processes are what supports the large biological environments surrounding the vents. The vents have a cylinder chimney-like structure. There are 'black smoker' and 'white smoker' vents. Black smokers tend to emit more of sulfides while white smokers releases lighter hued minerals.

The first discovery was in 1977. Jack Corliss and a group of marine geologists went to the Galapagos Rift and found the hydrothermal vents that was supporting its own ecosystem. There were more than 300 species surviving around the vents. Because the vents were located so deep, no amount of sunlight reached it, preventing plants from photosynthesizing. This meant that animals in that ecosystem adapted to feeding off of bacteria instead. They can be found in volcanically active areas. Usually on mid-ocean ridges, seawater first trickles into the cracks and fissures along the ocean crust where there were spreading centers or subduction zones. There, it meets hot magma, forming the vents. Inside the hydrothermal vents, seawater can reach the temperatures of over 700°F. Surprisingly, the hot seawater does not boil because of the extreme pressure from the depths at which vents are formed.

=** Flora **= Because of how deep the vents are located, there is no sunlight for plants to photosynthesize. Instead, there are chemoautotropic bacteria acting as producers. They break down and absorb hydrogen sulfide (found under the crust but is brought up by the vent water), oxygen, and carbon dioxide to create carbohydrates by using chemosynthesis.

= **Fauna** = Primary consumers depend on the bacteria as their source of food. For example, tube worms don't have any mouths or stomach. They live purely on the bacteria. There are colonies of bacteria located in the tube worms' stomach. Tube worms were among the first to colonize the area around hydrothermal vents. Others such as clams and mussels also rely on bacteria as their food supply. They take sugar from the bacteria and filter food out of the water. Th ere are many crabs and shrimp among the vents. The crustaceans vary from predators to scavengers. Another type of organism are these tiny organisms called "dandelions". They are a type of scavenger that appear on rocks. When they form, usually, this indicates that the ecosystem is about to fail. The some of next consumers in the food chain is deep-sea octopus and zoarcid fish.

= = = = = = =** Seasonal Temp might want to say there are no seasons **=

Temperatures can reach as high as 400°C but because of the extreme pressure from the deep ocean, the water does not boil.



=** Seasonal Precipitation hmmmm no precip, but do have.... **= The hot fluid from the hydrothermal vents can melt basaltic rock, metals, and other elements. The black smokers produces tiny sulfide particles that can travel hundreds of meters upward and thousands of kilometers horizontally because of the plumes coming from the vents. The large ore deposits that are formed on land were created by these vents thousands of years ago.



=** Human Impact **= The discover of hydrothermal vents led to the expedition of exploiting mineral resources. Hydrothermal vents is Earth's plumbing like system. Regulating global ocean chemistry, the vents move heat and chemicals from the interior of the Earth, thus unloading large amounts of mineral deposits on the sea floor. The amount of copper, manganese, and even gold could have made ocean mining very profitable, but because of how deep the vents are located, doing so well just be a loss, both for humans and for the ecosystem. Currently, only a couple of costly submarine explorations are able to afford the trip down under to continue exploring the unique habitat.

Even without mining companies destroying those environments, already, humans are destroying deep sea ecosystems from the pollution and litter dumped into oceans. Land based activities have a drastic effect in the ocean deep. The pollutants (sewage, toxic chemicals, nuclear waste, etc.) that were dumped in the sea are building up. Global climate change is also effecting the ocean. Fishing for seafloor fish is soon becoming an increasing concern. If it isn't aproached with care, the habitats will be destroyed.

=** Bibliography **=
 * "A Hydrothermal Vent Forms When Seawater Meets Hot Magma." //What Is a Hydrothermal Vent? // N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2015. .
 * "DeepSeaCreatures.org." //Deep Sea Creatures //. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2015. .
 * "Habitats: Hydrothermal Vent - Characteristics." //Oceanography //. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2015. .
 * "Flora & Fauna." //Hydrothermal Vents //. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2015. .
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"Dataset A: Vent Fluid Temperature over Time - Scientist Feedback." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">FLEXE Forum //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2015. <http://www.flexe.psu.edu/FORUM_ARCHIVE/ENERGY_UNIT/FORUM_A/SCIENTIST_RESPONSE.cfm>.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"Deep Sea Ecology: Hydrothermal Vents and Cold Seeps." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">WWF - //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2015. <http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/deep_sea/vents_seeps/>.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"Hydrothermal Vents." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2015. <http://www.whoi.edu/main/topic/hydrothermal-vents>.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"Hydrothermal Vents." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hydrothermal Vents //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2015. <http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/eoi/nemo/explorer/concepts/hydrothermal.html>.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> "Hairy Crabs and Pale Octopuses: Antarctic Vents Reveal New Marine Species (Wired UK)." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Wired UK //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2015. <http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-01/04/hydrothermal-animals>.